The Chinese car market demands tacky, blingy cars for people with poor taste. They want to show off so chrome and "sparkly stuff" is important.....Ive heard this from several reports about their car industry.
And I have been there many times in recent years. There are imbeciles with ridiculous cars, of course, but the vast majority of the show off cars are the same restrained German stuff we get here. A4/A6, 5 series, E-Class etc. And the odd Toyota Crown.
Then you have Lambo / Ferrari drivers of course but its no more bling than your average off the shelf Lambo / Ferrari. Because its the same car.
Just because you read it, doesn't make it true.
Yes, but the question is also whether the Germans would sell even more in China if their designs were less "restrained." It certainly seems to me that both BMW and especially Mercedes (not so much Audi) are already moving towards more "blingy" design. How much (if any) of that is due to Chinese tastes and influence, I don't know.
I've only been to China once, and remember a conversation with our native tour guide for the day. She was curious about life in Canada, and seemed interested in cars (particularly Rolls Royce). But it was one question in particular that had me speechless for a second: she asked "If you had a Rolls Royce in your driveway, would your neighbours be envious?"
It's funny, because the first thing that I thought was "No, my neighbours would probably think I was a douchebag, but I'd be too embarrassed to have it parked in my driveway in the first place: it's simply too ostentatious." 
Anyway, I'm obviously no expert on Chinese culture, but I think it's fair to say that it's a little different from ours. (Or maybe it's not the culture so much as all the new wealth. I'm sure all the nouveau riche Russian oligarchs love their bling, too.) But since China is becoming such a huge market, I can't see how Chinese tastes aren't going to have an influence.
IMHO the movement of the Germans towards more "extroverted" designs is really the result of three dynamics at work, all of which are focused on the North American (possibly Western Europe also) market:
1. An aggressive move by Audi to increase sales numbers, part of an aggressive move by VWAG to usurp GM/Toyota. Piech is nothing if not ambitious. It was Audi that began utilizing more aggressive light structures, LED strips, big giant grille, etc. Remember the R8 launch? Then adding stuff like the A5 and A7 which are "extrovert" versions of the A4/A6. And it has undoubtedly worked - sales are way up.
2. Mercedes left frustrated with the "old man" image and their #3 position in the three horse German sales race. The W203 and W211 cars were not particularly aggressive looking. People found them boring (though I will say I am a particular fan of that generation of MB styling). So they basically took a page out of Audi's book, but with a several year delay. You can see this somewhat in the W204 / W212, and much moreso in the W218 CLS and R231 SL. Also, the W212 facelift - changing the default upright hood ornament to the "big star" grille of the coupes and SUVs for the US market is a clear shift from "old man car" to "young money".
3. At the same time, there has been an underlying demographic shift. Boomers and Gen Y (especially early-mid Gen Y) are now in control of the vast majority of wealth in the Western world. Even more importantly, they have essentially never known "bad times" in the way that their parents would have (wars, depressions) - the worst things they would have had to go through would be the stagflationary 70s, maybe the tech bust....by the time 2008 rolled around most of these people were so entrenched it didn't matter too much.
This charmed set of experiences, I believe, has resulted in a generation of people who are exceptionally self confident. They want everything, and largely they have gotten it. The desire to maintain a youthful, sexy image is paramount to their existence. Zoomers. Never too late to switch careers. Sticking to your Diet Pepsi. These people want a cool looking car, the one they couldn't quite afford at age 25 or 30. Preferences have moved away from stoic and stodgy to youthful and sexy as their generation refuses to age.
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The BMW narrative is a bit messed up by the Bangle era, so I won't get into that.
Anyways, if the German triumverate really believed that bling would sell, they would have just made bling versions of the cars for that market. Manufacturers do this all the time, different light clusters, some trim pieces, etc. The fact that they have not suggests that they don't believe it to be the right choice.
Regarding the Rolls Royce comment. I think that is more an issue of the new-found wealth thing. Much has changed in China in the last 30 years. And while your neighbours might think you are a douchebag, that does not preclude them from also being envious.
IMHO, specific Chinese market tastes are pretty much the following:
1. Does it have status? (BMW Mercedes Audi Porsche Ferrari Lambo etc.)
2. Is there a stretch version so I can get driven around by my chauffeur? (There is an A4 L!)
(of course the above is specific to those with money...not everyone has money, but obviously most people would like more money)
